Thursday, June 27, 2013

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOUR AGING BODY CANNOT TAKE YOU TO WHERE YOUR RESTLESS MIND WANTS TO GO

Winnie the Bago beckoned to me this morning from her sheltered spot in the shaded Pines just off the end of our driveway. "Come on" she said. "Let's go for a spin". Kelly had already headed off in the Jeep for the Goderich hospital to drop off some medical stuff so Pheebs & I didn't need any coaxing to climb aboard the Winnie Wagon. Cranked up the A/C & under cloudy skies we headed on down the road for a big country cruise around the block. Winnie was just as happy as we were to be out & about on the road going somewhere.

Rolling into the south end of Bayfield on the way back we stopped to see our friends Di & Harry at STORMRUNNER RV SALES & SERVICE. Pheebs wanted to stop in & touch noses with George & Sport. They are the 4 legged half of the Stormrunner bunch. Harry & Di usually RV in one of the newer model RV's they have on the lot but 2 winters ago they rolled through the South-West in their truck camper. We met them in Bisbee Arizona for breakfast. Nice folks & if your in the area & looking for a new or used 5th wheel just stop on by & have a chat with Di & Harry.

The confusion over Kelly's Valley Fever test results continue. Dr. Heffner's office in Stratford phoned late this morning scheduling another Stratford appointment for Aug 1rst. Another round of blood tests two weeks before that appointment as well. Kelly had phoned them 2 days ago saying she was told her Valley Fever test was back at the lab in the Goderich Hospital. Dr. Heffner's office phoned the Goderich lab & were told 'no' the test results were 'not back'. So Kelly then phoned the Goderich Hospital saying she was there 2 days ago & had been told the results 'were back'. Today she was told the results were 'not back' & in fact were still at the Public Health Department in London Ontario. Kelly continues to improve but the Valley Fever folly continues.

Note to commenter Martha on Wednesday night’s post from commenter Donna regarding switching from Hotmail to Outlook…….“In order to print email: When you have an email open across the top toolbar it will say: New Reply Delete Archive Junk Sweep Move to Categories then there are three dots. Click on the dots and more tools will show up, one of them is Print”.

Contessa over at 5C'S QUE PASA went into surgery this morning for a hip replacement. Anyone having any hip problems or facing hip surgery might be interested in how she made out & how she feels about it all when she gets home. At the moment Contessa’s Mother is not well so she if facing some difficult times in the days ahead. Contessa is one who writes from the heart.

Had a comment question about one of my flower photos in Wednesday night's post & how did I get the black background. Photo was taken in full daylight but a few factors contributed to that purple flower shot. First & foremost, if your going to do any kind of creative photography it is best you have a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera. This gives you the option of changing lenses & it gives you a necessary view finder. When it comes to bugs, birds, frogs, flowers, etc I use a 75-300mm lens. Almost a hundred per cent of my close-up photos are done at a full 300mm. This enables me to accurately see & fill the view finder with the subject & that is important. It is the subject matter (flower) filling the viewfinder which the camera's exposure meter reads. If the subject matter is light colored or has sunlight on it the exposure meter will try to compensate for the brightness by darkening the overall photo & that is one of several factors that will darken the background in the process. There are other factors at play as well. I have my camera tweaked to underexpose my photos by one full stop making it again darker. A telephoto lens can also allow a subject to be distanced from it's background in some cases. Distance between that purple flower & the background was about 8 feet & the background was in shade. And composition is an important factor. Try to position your lighter subject against a dark shaded background. I sometimes try to position myself between the lighter subject & a darker tree trunk maybe 3 or 4 feet in the background. Always remember to check & see what is behind your subject.

There are far more places in the South-West we have not seen than there are places we have seen. But the places we have seen will remain with us forever. While spending time in South-Eastern Arizona ranch sitting for 4 years we were very fortunate to have spent time exploring around that whole area. (each colored link below represents one day in the life of the Bayfield Bunch) We have WALKED THE VERY TRAILS OF COCHISE & GERONIMO in the Chiricahua & Dragoon Mountains. STROLLED THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA & picked our way through the remains of half a dozen long forgotten ghost towns such as CHARLESTON & MILLVILLE, GLEESON, COURTLAND, FAIRBANK, & PEARCE. Old western historic sites like the TEXAS JOHN SLAUGHTER RANCH, BISBEE, & the border towns of NACO & DOUGLAS. We found JOHNNY RINGO'S GRAVE as well as ONE OF TOMBSTONE'S EARP BROTHERS. Hiked into FORT BOWIE & saw the ruts of old stagecoach trails. Stopped at a Spring where Cochise & his Apache band gathered water. Walked on grounds where Indians & American Cavalry battled. Saw the graves of SEVEN CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS who lost their lives to a band of roving Apaches. Walked, driven, & hiked the Huachuca Mountains & STOOD ATOP CORONADO PEAK gazing for miles into the lands of Mexico. We have stayed in Columbus New Mexico where Pancho Villa invaded the United States way back in 1916. Walked the huge underground passageways of the Carlsbad Caverns & stood on both the NORTH & SOUTH rims of the Grand Canyon. Our list goes on & on & yet we have barely scratched the surface of what the South-Wests historic past has to offer. My only regret is that like many other RV travelers we were not able to begin our RV travels long before we did. My advice to folks with dreams of traveling some day is to make those dreams happen just as soon as you can. The earlier you begin your traveling lifestyle with good health the happier you are going to be. You are going to be able to walk & hike to many places a younger body can take you. Do it while you can. If at all possible do not wait until your aging body cannot take your restless mind to where it want’s to go. Trust me on that one. Don’t know how many times while traveling over the past 7 years the thought has rattled through my head, ‘wished we could have somehow started this great RV lifestyle a whole lot sooner than we did’.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The phone rings and the lady of the house answers, 'Hello.' 'Mrs. Sanders, please' 'Speaking.' 'Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory. When your husband's doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.' 'What do you mean?' Mrs. Sanders asks nervously. 'Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's, and the other one tested positive for HIV(aids). We can't tell which is which.' 'That's dreadful! Can you do the test again?' questioned Mrs. Sanders. 'Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time.' 'Well, what am I supposed to do now?' 'The folks at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him……………..

------------------------------------------------------------- - Tourists see the world, travelers experience it. - Home is where your pet is:)) - "If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans." (James Herriot) - The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward - The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL. - It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

15 comments:

Yes., yes, do it while you can!We have been on the road 8 years and did start relatively early, 56 and 49 years old. But a bad back has slowed us down, still we get see so much and much more to see. Lower the south west.Di and Harry at Storm Runner Rv are supper people went there last year and got great service.

We too have wished that we had started spending our winters in the southwest,much sooner. Thanks to your blog ( and you and Kelly answering our questions) we realized we could travel with three dogs if we boondocked. Now it would be so hard not to boondock.

You know, this Valley Fever epidemic is finally gaining well-deserved press. It is nasty and dangerous! And what with you spending much of your time in the southwest, where the winds and fungi are predominant!

The groaner is a real belly laugh! As for the Valley Fever test, I would be willing to bet somewhere along the line the results have been lost or misplaced. Kelly might as well have them done again because if the hospital can't find them they probably won't ever tell her.

Al, I'm actually a cousin to Johnny Ringo (Ssshhhh!!! Don't tell the Earps!). My grandfather's female side had a LONG Ringo line, all the way back to a Dutch PIRATE who raided Spanish ships in the Caribbean and was lost at sea! Yes! Guess that family was the "Wild Bunch"!~~Cheryl Ann~~We've been to Tombstone a couple of times. I love that area. And, thanks for the tips of photographing flowers. I have a garden and I go out every now and then and snap a few photos.

Agree wholeheartedly! Hans and I were very fortunate to set out on our fulltime adventures in our early 50's. We grabbed the opportunity and ran! Who knows how long we'll stay on the road, but we are ready and able to get out and explore with "youthful" bodies and minds and enjoy this opportunity to the fullest.

We just started Rving in 2003, ten years ago..Den was 61, and I was 55. I sure wish we had started sooner. But,on a more positive note,we have run into Rver's in their 80's..some in vans, some in huge motorhomes..We are determined to keep doing it, even if we have to downsize considerably..NEVER GIVE UP, AL!!

Al, you blog is one I always look forward to reading. I too wish the Dr,s could come up with a correct diagnosis in a timely manner

Joe and I are looking forward to the day we can once again be on the road, and head South for the winter. But until then, we have special memories of times past and enjoy traveling through our blogger friends eyes.

AL'S CAMERA EQUIPMENT

A sometimes asked question readers have about my blog is what kind of a camera do I use. Well I have 8 of them and use them all. Five Nikon DSLR's, two quality Sony point and shoots plus one older Canon point and shoot.

'UPDATE':: July 2017 Thanks to a very generous blog reader I have been able to update my Nikon camera equipment and supplement my camera gear with a couple additional fine Sony cameras as well.I now have a 'donated' Nikon D7200 sporting my new Nikkor 18-300 3.5 zoom lens. Also have picked up a new Nikkor 1.8 primary 35mm lens. In addition I also now have a Sony RX100-3 camera as well as a Sony Exmore Cybershot. I have given my Canon Powershot point and shoot camera to a neighbor.

- In early 2017 I replaced my Nikon D-90 camera with a new D-3400 after the 'auto focus' feature on my aging D-90 quit working. The Nikon D-90 had been my work horse camera sporting a Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens. I used this camera for most of my landscapes and I now have it set up for night photography where 'auto focus' is not necessary.

-My older faithful and favorite Nikon D-40 finally packed it in during the summer of 2015 and I replaced it with a new Nikon D-3100.

- Previous to my Nikon D-90, most of my photos were taken with my old faithful Nikon D-50 from 2006 to early 2011 whereupon the D-50 suffered a rather gruesome death when it fell off a table onto a cement porch in southeastern Arizona. The 70-300mm lens on the camera survived the fall but the D-50 did not. My Nikkor lenses are interchangable between the D-90 the D-3100 and the D-3400.